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How
do you thank someone for taking an interest in you after your mom
passes away from breast cancer when you are nine years old? How do you thank
someone for taking you shopping and spending time with you when you have
a huge gaping hole in your heart? How do you thank someone for helping
you through those awkward pre-teen and teenage years and for doing
things for you that you yearned for your mom to help with? How do you
thank someone for loving and caring about your kids when you want so
much for your mom to be here loving them?Then
how do you watch this same friend who is now a mom with three young
kids fight her own cancer battle? And how do you cope when she tells you
the doctors tell her she is down to only weeks left to live? How can I
stand by now and watch this family of little means and not try to do
something for them?

I wanted to thank my dear friend in the only way I knew how-- by making the last months
of her life full of happiness and creating lasting
memories with her family! But at the time, I was not in a financial
place to help much. We knew we needed help. People began donating $20
here. And $20 there. Others were donating their sky miles and hotel
rewards to send them on a trip. Photography services. Tickets to athletic events. It
amazingly all came together in a mere week! Unfortunately, it was too late. My friend's health declined rapidly. She passed away only
one week after they gave her two months to live. I will always regret
not starting sooner. Not doing more. I never wanted to feel that way
again! But in the process-- I learned a great lesson:

People who want to make a difference usually know they cannot cure
cancer or end world hunger, but they often don't know what they can
do. For someone fighting cancer or other hardships, sometimes just a
little help goes a long way, even if the help is just $20 that is
contributed to a larger project. Through our experience, The Kathryn R. Nelson Memorial Foundation, named after our wonderful mother, was born.

The Kathryn R. Nelson Memorial Foundation's purpose is to raise funds
for cancer fighters and others who are suffering from hardship and
provide them with relief, even if that relief is temporary and comes in
the form of a trip, a visitor, a gift, or an act of kindness. The
Organization is strictly volunteer, so no donations go to pay
salaries...100% of all donations are gifted to those we are trying to help.

Our Mission: To serve, encourage, and support.

Encourage: Our mission is to help move people to action. To help people find ways to serve. Encourage others to
lift someone's burden, to make a change, to bring sunshine to the
storm. To realize that even the small things can make all the
difference!

Serve: Our mission is to serve those who need hope and compassion.

Support: Our mission is to raise funds to help those who are struggling through cancer or other life battles.